


Anata no Ouji - Your Prince

by kisala10



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Comedy, Drama, F/M, Fluff, Karasuno High, Reader-Insert, Romance, School Life, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-02
Updated: 2016-01-06
Packaged: 2018-03-26 19:33:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3862078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kisala10/pseuds/kisala10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People with outstanding looks, behavior or skills as well as objects attract your attention. Sugawara Koushi is one of those people. You can't look away from his silver hair. Also, there seems to be something else which reminds you of someone you have met in the past...?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm rather slow with update, so I apologize in advance! The story sets in autumm, a few months after Karasuno lost against Aobajousai during Interhigh-Preliminaries.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first time you took a glance at him, you thought that you saw a prince - _your prince._

The first time you took a glance at him, you thought that you saw a prince - _your prince._

He had an average height, short silver hair, cocoa brown eyes and a mole under his left eye which you noticed after staring at him for a long time. He wore a white shirt with a black necktie, overlaid by a black vest and his long legs were covered by black pants. 

It wasn’t only his appearance which made him look like a prince, it was also his smile that drew your whole attention to him. His smile melted your heart like chocolate and you felt like you were in heaven. You had never seen a dazzling smile like his before and it was impossible to look away just a second. Now you understood how girls felt like when they saw a handsome boy with a smile of an angel. 

You were currently sitting in a corner of the café which was one of the most popular cafés in the city. It had lots of different decorations on the walls, at the counter and outside on the glass vitrine: Animals, flowers, just anything which looked cute. All in one, the café looked adorable and it probably took the employers a lot of time to decorate it. The decorations weren’t the only things which attracted the attention of most of the people. The sweet fragrance of the cakes and other pastries were spread through the whole room and also outside. 

Today you and your best friend wanted to meet up. Your friend promised to be on time but as always more than a half hour already passed and you sat all alone at a small table in the corner with a cup of tea which was slowly getting colder. 

You sighed and turned away from the handsome boy who was talking happily with his friends. You had the urge to turn your head in his direction again but you didn’t want him to notice that you were staring at him the whole time. It would be embarrassing if he suddenly looked back and walked towards you to tell you that you should stop staring at him. It actually happened to you a few times when your friends were suddenly gone and you were bored, so you kept gazing at random people until you saw something or someone that looked interesting. 

“[First name]!” your friend called out to you and waved a hand in front of your face. You were so deep in your thoughts that you didn’t notice your buddy, apologizing and sitting down on the chair on the opposite side of the table.

“Could you maybe repeat what you said?” you asked, trying to put your thoughts aside. 

“I said… I’m sorry for being late again! My mother scolded me for my bad grades and she told me that I have to go to cram school from now on,” your schoolmate answered and sighed. 

You tried to cheer up your companion by paying for the food and the drinks. Immediately your friend’s face brightened. ”Thank youuu [first name]-chan~!” Your best friend cuddled you and thanked you over and over again. 

“Say, [first name]… You didn’t lay your eyes on someone again and made them uncomfortable, did you?” your friend whispered while stuffing the piece of the cake you paid for inside of the mouth. 

You began to laugh nervously and took a sip of your tea which was cold by now. But the tea still tasted good. It tasted a lot better than the bagged tea you had at home. 

Your schoolmate glared at you with narrow eyes and you tried to ignore it but a drop of sweat ran down your neck. “[Last name] [first name], I demand an answer.” 

You looked down on your cup, then took your spoon and pointed it in his direction. Your comrade eyed him without even moving an inch. Then your friend asked: “Which one of them is it? The big guy with the long hair, the one with the short dark hair or the silver-haired?” 

“Isn’t it obvious?” you responded with a question as you took another sip of your cold tea. The person, sitting in front of you, grinned and ate the rest of the piece of cake.

“Hey, [first name]-chan~ Silver’s about to go. Don’t you want to talk to him once before you’ll never see him again?” your best friend said teasingly. Your friend always made up names for the people you kept glancing at. The name always contained what drew your attention to them. 

You held yourself back from gazing at him one last time. You tried calming yourself down and then replied: “I’m just a stranger to him and he’s also just a stranger to me.” 

“You’re no fun… I was only teasing you though,” your schoolmate pouted. You smiled and said that you knew your friend was only joking. After you both finished eating and drinking, you chatted a little bit until you had to go home to prepare dinner for yourself. Your parents went to a business dinner and wouldn’t be back around 10 pm. 

Before you said goodbye to your best friend, you turned your head to the table where the silver haired guy had sat. You had a weird feeling inside of your chest and felt like you had seen him somewhere before. But you decided to ignore it for now. 

\----------

The next day you walked to Karasuno High like every day. Your friend and you enrolled to this school this spring and unfortunately you weren’t in the same class. You heard your friend, calling you from the distance and then you walked together, chatting about random things like every day.

When you two arrived at the high school, you went to your different classrooms. But you promised to meet at the school yard to eat lunch together.

Within a few minutes, your teacher arrived and began the lesson with the attendance. You had to endure four periods until you could meet up with your friend at lunch time. You sighed but you paid attention to your teacher who called your name. You responded with a simple “yes” and took out every material which was necessary for this lesson. 

“Open your books at page 59. [Last name], read out loud the first paragraph,” the teacher demanded. You stood up and then read the content of the part you had to read. You made a few mistakes while reading but most of the time you read it fluently. 

“Okay, next is…” 

\---------

Finally, the school bell rang and you stretched your whole body. You took out your lunch box and walked to the school yard at a fast pace. You couldn’t wait to eat your lunch and talk to your friend who was probably waiting right now because your teacher was pissed off by your class and didn’t let anyone out before someone would tell him who hid all of the pieces of chalk. 

You spotted your friend and waved happily. Then you ran towards your friend who was eating a sandwich from the cafeteria and then apologized for being late. 

“We only have 17 minutes left until the next period starts! And I can’t believe that **you** are the one who’s late! A miracle happened!” your best friend spoke, trying to sound amazed. Your friend was teasing you, of course. 

“Well, it’s not my fault. It’s the fault of my classmates who thought that it would be funny to pull a prank at the teacher,” you sighed and opened your lunch box. When you saw what was inside, your face immediately brightened. Your mother made rice, fried eggs, small meat balls and put small pieces of cucumbers inside of the box. On top of the rice was a brown sauce which was shaped like a heart. 

Your schoolmate stared at your lunch hungrily and you also could see envy in your friend’s eyes. “Do you want some of it?” you asked, smiling. 

In return, the person next to you nodded and took one of the meatballs. Your comrade’s face looked astonished and then changed into a pleased facial expression. Your friend talked with still food in the mouth which wasn’t a very pleasant sight: “It’s sooo good…!” 

“Uh… Could you maybe speak after you finished eating?” you asked, trying not to sound like a mother who complained about the table manners of her child. 

“Oh, sorry…” your companion mumbled apologetically, “It’s just so delicious that I kind of forgot to chew und gulp it down.” 

You chuckled when you heard the reason and you continued to eat, listening to your friend’s story which was about foods from different countries your friend wanted to eat someday. You couldn’t help but laugh when your comrade suddenly pulled a list out of the jacket. The list reached from the bench to the ground and there were about 100 meals on it. 

“114 different kind of foods to be exact!” your best friend said proudly and put the list away. As you continued to talk, a ball suddenly rolled to you. It bumped against your feet and then repelled. It moved slower and slower until its movement stopped completely. “A volleyball?” you wondered and picked it up. 

“Could you throw it over here, please??” someone shouted. You searched for the source of the voice and spotted a red-haired boy who was waving and shouting the same question once again. 

“Are you actually strong enough to throw it over there?” your friend spoke in a sarcastic tone. You glanced at your companion and responded: “I’m going to show you, so just sit and watch.” 

You closed your eyes as you took a deep breath. You opened your eyes again and took a small run-up before you pitched it.

Oh, you did manage to toss it to the red-haired boy. You even threw with full power. At first you and your friend were both surprised and amazed that you were able to throw it so far away. But just a few seconds later something totally unexpected happened. You should have run to him and returned the ball like an ordinary person would have or you should have tossed the ball like a weak girl would have, so you all could laugh about it. 

The fast ball flew towards the boy. He didn’t expect that the ball would be flying so quickly and wasn’t capable of catching it with his hands at cause of that. Instead of catching the ball with his hands, he caught it with his face. Well, kind of. 

Instantly you stormed to the boy who was lying on his back with another boy by his side who shouted “Hinata!” before you arrived. You kneeled down next to the Hinata and apologized over and over again: “I’m really sorry! You aren’t bleeding, are you? Should I take you to the infirmary?” 

“I-I’m fine… I used to receive many balls with my face during volleyball practice and my nose never bled-” Hinata suddenly stopped talking when he noticed blood dripping from his nose. He simply formed an “oh” with his lips. You nervously took out tissue papers which were in the pockets of your jacket and handed them to him. 

“I’ll take him to the infirmary,” his friend, who was sitting across from you, decided, smiling and helped Hinata to stand up. 

“But I have to take the responsibility-” you stopped in the middle of your sentence when you saw the smile of the boy. He turned his head to you and reassured you: “Don’t worry about it. I’ll make sure that his bleeding stops.’ 

Then they left. The shorter boy, Hinata was loud enough that you could hear what he said. He didn’t want to trouble his upperclassman, “Suga-san” and he said that a classmate of his could accompany him. 

It was silent until the bell rang and someone whispered in your ear which made you jump: “That was Silver, wasn’t it? Or should I say ‘Sugawara Koushi’?” 

You didn’t know when and how your friend sneaked up on you. You didn’t know how your friend knew the name of the silver-haired guy either. 

“Let’s go or we’ll both be late for the next lesson!” your schoolmate shouted and ran inside of the school building. 

You ran after your friend and began to laugh. You felt like you were thrown inside of a typical shoujo manga because you met the guy you were interested in again by coincidence. Maybe that’s what people could call ‘fate’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I decided to write a Sugawara Koushi x Reader. I’m not good at writing those kind of fanfictions because this is only my second x Reader and my first one was written about 2 years ago. Aand I chose Sugawara because I just simply love him aaand I hope it’s not OOC! xD


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tutor… You never had a tutor before. Some tutors demanded a lot of money and that’s why you always studied diligently, so you wouldn’t need a tutor. But since you entered the high school the amount of homework had increased and you had to study more. Your life was only about studying and studying.

After school you went home alone. Your friend had club activities and you didn’t make any friends in your class yet because your class was kind of separated into groups. You felt uncomfortable in your class due to that.

On the way back to your home, a few red leaves fell down on the ground. It was autumn. But it was still warm and not as windy and cold as you thought it would be and it hasn’t rained yet. You liked the sound of waterdrops, splashing on the asphalt but you didn’t like the feeling of being soaked. That’s why you always stayed inside on rainy days and listened to the sound of the rain drops.

Your house wasn’t far away from school, so you arrived at home ten minutes later with your parents welcoming you. They were done with eating and left enough food for you.

“[First name], we need to talk to you after you’re done eating,” your father talked in a deep voice. You had a bad feeling about this. Your father would only talk with a low-pitched voice when you goofed in school or at home.

You continued to eat at a slow pace and felt nervous about what your parents would tell you. Did you accidently break anything inside the house? It was possible because you were a really clumsy person. Did a teacher call your parents because you weren’t paying attention to their lesson? That was another possibility. Today you couldn’t concentrate due to lack of sleep. Your best friend kept bugging you about Sugawara Koushi and didn’t let you go to sleep until 2 am.

You finally finished eating and began to clear the table and afterwards you washed the dishes. Soon after you finished, you walked to the living room. The only sounds you could hear were your steps on the creaking wooden floor and your heart which was beating faster. You gulped and pressed down the door knob. 

Your parents were sitting on the two armchairs next to the sofa, reading the newspapers and drinking tea. They put away the newspapers when you entered the room and told you to sit down on the sofa. “So, [first name],” your mother started. 

The pressure increased as well as the speed of your heartbeat. Your father cleared his throat and you looked over to him. Then he spoke: “We need to talk about your grades. Your homeroom teacher called while you were in school and talked about your grade in [worst subject].”

You felt your heart sinking. You completely forgot about the exam in [worst subject]. Your mother continued talking: “We thought it would be good for you to go to cram school. But we’ve seen your grades and that’s the only subject where your grade has to improve. So, we might hire a tutor for you.”

A tutor… You never had a tutor before. Some tutors demanded a lot of money and that’s why you always studied diligently, so you wouldn’t need one. But since you entered the high school the amount of homework had increased and you had to study more. Your life was only about studying and studying.

You were deep in your thoughts and didn’t realize that they were waiting for a reply or at least a reaction from you. A moment later your father broke the silence: “We heard that your friend is going to cram school, so if you prefer to go with [friend’s name] then it’s also fine. We want you to decide. However, we need an answer before the exams start.”

You nodded silently. It would be great if you could go with your friend to cram school but it would be better to hire a tutor because you had good grades in every subject beside [worst subject]. Hiring a tutor wasn’t easy though and it could cost a lot, depending on the person.

And that’s how the serious conversation between you and your parents ended. You felt relieved and your heart beat slower now. Both of your parents let out a sigh of relief. 

“I can’t believe I could stay so serious for such a long time…” your father admitted and stretched, “I would have done it differently but your mother insisted on being all serious like the other times we scolded you, so we’d look like good parents once in a while.”

Your mother laughed, saying that they were good parents which was true. They loved you for who you are and didn’t neglect you even if they were busy with work. They would always try to spend time with you. And even if you shouted at them at cause of the puberty, they’d still love you and try to support you. That’s what kind of people your parents were. They simply loved to laugh and make the people around them happy. 

“Well, I have to do my homework now. So, I’ll leave now,” you said and stood up. You walked towards your room and did the homework like you said you would. You weren’t the kind of person who broke promises.

You tried your best to concentrate on your homework in front of you. However, you couldn’t get the face of Sil-, no, Sugawara Koushi out of your mind. And the fact that you hurt the boy called “Hinata”. You still felt bad about it, so you thought of ways to apologize properly. But first of all, you had to finish your homework.

\----------

When you finally finished everything, you felt mentally tired. Why did they have to give all students so much homework? You sighed and stood up. Your back ached a little bit from sitting too much. You stretched your body while thinking of an appropriate way to apologize. You asked yourself over and over again: “How do I apologize to a stranger…”

Suddenly you had an idea and stopped moving an inch. It was perfect and you would have fun, doing that. Immediately you ran out of your room, downstairs to the kitchen and looked for the ingredients and the utensils. Your parents heard the noise you made in the kitchen and approached you.

“What are you doing, honey?” your mother asked curiously. You turned around to her with a smile on your face. Your answer was: “I’m going to bake cookies.”

Your parents still wanted to know why you were baking cookies now but they decided to leave you alone because you were completely concentrating on making the batter for the cookies.

\----------

The next school day started for you. The cookies you made yesterday were a success. They were a bit sweet but they were the best cookies which you ever baked. You made a little bit too much, so your parents had a share as well as your friend.

You stuffed your lunch box and three cellophane bags which contained the cookies inside of your school bag with a content smile. Then you slung your bag over your shoulder, put your shoes on and turned around to say: “I’m going now!”

“Take care!” you heard your parents saying before closing the door and greeted your friend who was already waiting for you at the front door.

“You know what, [first name]?? I don’t have to go to cram school! My parents decided to hire a tutor for me!” your friend talked happily.

“That’s great,” you responded, nodding. Before your companion started to talk about random things, you started to talk about the conversation you had with your parents yesterday.

“… Then your parents should hire a tutor too. It’s a shame though… We could have gone together. But my parents already paid my tutor, so I can’t tell them that I want to go to cram school now…” your friend replied sadly after listening to you. You patted your friend’s back and assured that it was fine.

“Oh yeah, I baked some cookies. I got a portion for you,” you remembered and took out one of the cellophane bags. Your schoolmate grinned and thanked you for the pastries. Suddenly [friend’s name] poked your side and asked amused: “There must be a reason why you made the cookies, right~?”

“I-I just wanted to apologize to the guys from yesterday,” you stuttered. The tone your best friend used made you feel embarrassed because your friend would only use that tone when you actually were in love with someone.

“Sure~” your friend continued teasing you and you punched your friend’s shoulder lightly. You two talked a little bit more and a few minutes later you arrived at school. Four periods had to pass again before you could see your comrade, just like every day.

\----------

After the four exhausting periods, you put your school supplies inside of your bag, took your jacket and swung your school bag over you. Your class had to move to a different room. Instead of walking to the other room, you headed to the school cafeteria where you and your friend promised to meet.

But something distracted you from going to the cafeteria. You spotted the red-haired boy you injured yesterday and ran towards him, calling his name. You sighed out of relief when he recognized you. It would have been awkward if he wouldn’t have recognized you. Then you would have to explain what happened. ‘Hi, I’m the girl who made your nose bleed by throwing a volleyball that accidently hit your face.’

“I still felt bad about yesterday, so I made something for you to apologize properly,” you explained to him when he asked what you wanted to talk about. You took out one bag with cookies and handed it to him. His smile grew wider and his eyes looked like they were sparkling.

“Thank you! It wasn’t necessary but thank you!” he thanked you over and over again and grinned happily. Then his face changed and you could almost read from his expression ‘Ah, I just remembered something’. He asked: “How did you know my name though?”

“I heard your name when you were talking to Sugawara-san,” you answered with a smile on your face. Suddenly the red-haired boy’s face changed again. It said ‘Ah, I just remembered something’ again but this time he looked like he was terrified.

“I-I-I have to go now or he’s going t-to kill me!!” Hinata shouted and ran away. You were left confused but it wasn’t something that concerned you, so you walked to the cafeteria, hoping your friend didn’t have to wait for a long time.

“… I can’t believe it. You’re late again!” said the person who was waiting for you and already stood in line.

“There’s a reason why I was late again! I apologized to Hinata!” you pouted. Your friend tilted the head and asked: “The guy you hit in the face?”

“The **ball** hit his face. I only threw it…” you said embarrassed. Your comrade was the next in line and bought a bread filled with salad, bacon and eggs.

“And now… Let’s find Sugawara Koushi!” your friend exclaimed, loud enough that the other students heard it and turned their heads towards you two. You felt uncomfortable, getting stared at by many people and pushed your friend towards the door.

Then you entered the third-year’s building. You felt intimidated by the tall people who were spreading out a dark atmosphere around them which only happened in your imagination, of course, and you felt like you were totally out of place. You clung to your best friend who was laughing at your action. “There’s no need to be scared of your upperclassmen, is there?”

You nodded in agreement but still continued to stick to your friend like glue and held your jacket close to your body. You tried to concentrate on your objective and slow down your heartbeat by telling yourself that there was nothing to be afraid of. Your friend knocked at the door of one of the classrooms which made your heart jump. What if you were only disturbing him? What if- 

Someone opened the door and your friend and asked if Sugawara was there. The third-year answered that he wasn’t and that this wasn’t the class where Sugawara belonged to. His classroom was a few rooms further. You calmed down a little bit but you knew that the anxiety was going to come back.

Your friend thanked the third-year student and continued to walk happily without feeling uncomfortable that some of the third-years stared at both of you, whispering something. Two rooms further your friend stopped. Your hands were sweaty and your heart beat faster. 

You were looking nervously at your surroundings, turning your head to the right, to the left, looking behind you and then turning to your right again. Your eyes widened and you turned around. You spotted the guy whom you’ve been searching for. He was with the two people you’ve seen him with in the café.

How should you approach him? He was talking with his friends, so wouldn’t it be impolite to just barge in? Your heart pounded like mad and you turned around to your friend who was supposed to be standing in front of you. But you were facing the door instead of your comrade. You quickly looked around, desperately searching for your comrade who had disappeared. Where had your friend run off? Was your friend doing this on purpose? Should you go back on your own?

You hesitated. You had come this far to run away? “No” you told yourself. You squeezed your eyes shut and told yourself that everything would be fine and that it would only take a few minutes and then you could search for your friend whom you would have to get angry at.

You felt your confidence slightly raising and walked towards the third-years who noticed you when you stood near them. You took a deep breath and then started speaking: “I’m sorry for disturbing you. I just wanted to apologize once again for giving you trouble yesterday, Sugawara-san.”

You opened your bag and took out the handmade cookies which you handed to Sugawara. “This is part of my apology. Farewell.” The last part was rushed because you felt more and more nervous when the trio stared at you intensely. You turned around and walked away. Someone was shouting “Wait!” but you didn’t want to listen and continued to walk. Then someone grabbed you at your wrist.

“Please wait a moment. I already said it’s fine yesterday, didn’t I? So, I’m going to give you back the pastries. I would feel bad to eat them because I’m just a random stranger you just met,” the silver-haired boy said, smiling gently and letting go of your wrist. You turned around to face him, telling him he could eat the cookies if he wanted to and if he didn’t then he could throw them away or give them to someone else.

His expression changed into the one your mother had when she scolded you. “I’m not going to throw them away. You put a lot of effort into making them even if it’s just for a stranger. I’m going to eat them with my friends if you don’t mind.”

You nodded. You were still feeling nervous but his voice calmed you down. Sugawara’s voice was soothing, soft and gentle. It made you feel safe and comfortable as well as his smiles did. His smiles he had shown you previously in the café were genuinely, kind-hearted, pure and looked like the smile of an angel. Thinking about his smile and him just generally, gave you the feeling of nostalgia. There was something about him which reminded you of a person - a person you’ve met in the past. But you couldn’t remember who it was.

You were about to say goodbye when he asked the same question Hinata had asked you: “That reminds me… How do you know my name?”

“My friend told me. I don’t know where my friend knows your name though,” you replied hurriedly. Blood rushed to your cheeks and you hoped he didn’t notice.

“Ohh, there you are~!” a certain person said, hugging you from behind. Guess who? Your so-called friend who left you a few minutes ago. Your school mate let go of you, examining Sugawara. You apologized for your friend’s behavior and tried to pull your friend away. The upperclassman replied with “It’s fine” and was about to take his leave when your comrade talked loudly about the issue with the tutor. 

You felt blood rushing to your cheeks and tried stopping your friend. There were a few people staring at you for causing this ruckus. Your best friend pushed you away and asked: “Sugawara Koushi, would you teach [last name] [first name] in [worst subject]?”

You started another attempt to pull your friend away. You hugged your friend from behind and tried to drag your friend away. Your comrade kept struggling until Sugawara replied: “I’m busy with my own exams and the volleyball club, so I’m not sure if I have time to teach you…”

“Oh, that’s totally fine with [first name]! You see, my friend is very diligent and only needs a bit support, so it’s fine if you can- Mhmph!!” you put your hand on your friend’s mouth to stop your friend from talking further.

“Please just forget what happened the last minutes. My friend and I will return to our classrooms and I apologize for… for… everything!” you said hurriedly while dragging away your companion. You were feeling nervous, embarrassed and angry at the same time. This was all your friend’s fault. If you could turn back the time then that would be great. You would go back to the time when you started staring at people who were intriguing you and you would stop yourself from continuing to do it.

You let go of your friend who was about to thank you for doing so but you dragged your friend by the collar instead, not caring about the people who were staring at you because the encounter before only was on your mind.

“Could you stop pulling me by my collar?” the person who was at fault for your current state asked. You responded with a simple “no”, not listening to whatever your friend was saying. You dropped your friend off in front of one of your friend’s classmates and headed to your classroom. You actually weren’t that angry at your best friend. You just didn’t like the fact that your friend asked an upperclassman who was busy with his own exams if he had time to teach you.

You walked into the room where your class had to move to and sat down on an empty seat, putting your bag down and hanging up your jacket over your chair. Then you lay your head on the desk. You wanted to go home now. You wanted to bury yourself under blankets and sleep for the rest of the day, trying to forget what happened today. You sighed and waited for school to end.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Prince Sugawara held out his gloved hand to you. He showed his usual gentle smile and said: “Let’s go.” You took his hand with a smile and then he suddenly pulled you into a hug._

You were finally at home and plopped down on your bed, sighing in your pillow. You felt tired and wanted to rest but there was a pile of homework which you had to finish. Also, you had to study on your own for [worst subject] until you or your parents found a tutor.

At the moment your parents weren't at home because they had a business dinner with their client. You hoped that they left some food for you, so you went downstairs to check. There was indeed a prepared meal for you. You decided that you might as well eat now.

After you finished eating and washing the dishes, you went to your room and started doing your homework. You had a hard time to concentrate on them because you were getting sleepy and you had a light headache. You did somehow manage to finish them even if you only did them quickly without caring what you actually wrote.

It was around 9.30 PM that you plopped down on your bed again. You had changed your clothes, brushed your teeth and prepared everything which was necessary for tomorrow already. Now you only wanted to sleep until your alarm would wake you up.

\----------

_“[Last name] [first name]! You can't just fall asleep outside! You're going to catch a cold," someone said mockingly. You opened your eyes and looked at the person who was kneeling down next to you. It was Sugawara Koushi, the prince of the country. He wore a white shirt which was stuffed in his white pants and he wore a white blazer over his shirt. He looked like an angel who was sent from heaven to earth._

_Prince Sugawara held out his gloved hand to you. He showed his usual gentle smile and said: "Let's go." You took his hand with a smile and then he suddenly pulled you into a hug. You were surprised at first but then you felt comfortable in his arms. He was so warm. You unintentionally nuzzled your head in his chest as he pushed you slightly away. You felt a bit disappointed and sad. Suddenly he bended down to you and gently kissed you on your lips. Your lips parted and you needed a few seconds to realize what had just happened._

_"I... You... We... What..." you didn't manage to finish even one sentence and you felt blood rushing to your cheeks. Prince Sugawara chuckled at your reaction and then he whispered the words which made your heart jump and made you to the happiest person in the world. You jumped at him and you both fell on the grass field. The prince loved you. You thought it was a one-sided love but it wasn't. He loved you too, your prince._

\----------

Beep. Beep. Beep. That was the sound of your alarm. You turned it off and sat up with a yawn. You rubbed your eyes before you stood up and walked to the bathroom to brush your teeth. Didn't you have a weird dream last night? It was something about you... You lay in a grass field and then there was... A prince in white... Prince... Prince Sugawara... And you kissed...

"What... **WHAT?!** " you unintentionally shouted. Immediately your clasped your hands over your mouth before you'd scream again. You hoped your parents didn't hear it or else they would ask you endless questions.

When you finished the first things you always did at the morning, you went to the kitchen where your parents and you usually ate. Your parents sat there and you wished them a good morning.

"... Ah, that's right! I made up my mind if I want a tutor or if I'd like to go to cram school," you remembered. Your parents were boring stares at you, waiting for your answer. You gulped and then opened your mouth. "I'd like to have a tutor if that is alright..."

Both your mother and father were smiling and assuring you that the amount of money didn't matter and that they were going to try to find you a tutor as soon as they could. You smiled at them happily and had to quickly finish your food or your friend would be complaining about waiting again.

Surprisingly, your companion wasn't waiting in front of your house. There was no one waiting for you. Maybe your friend overslept like the other day or was ill. You shrugged it off for now and walked towards your school. You actually felt a bit lonely without your friend even if it just was for one day. You had no one else with whom you had so much fun with. Your classmates were rather unfriendly people and you'd love to switch the class. But the teachers told you to get along with them because the classes were going to get mixed at the start of the new semester anyway. That meant you had to stick with them until it was spring.

You arrived at school, going to your shoe locker and changing the outdoor shoes to the indoor shoes. There were about fifteen minutes left until the first period started. You still stood in front of the locker, thinking where you'd eat during lunch time. The rooftop would be great but it was usually locked. The school yard was another option. You didn't like to be at places where a crowd was, so you would always try to avoid them as much as possible.

Suddenly the image of the prince, bending down to you and kissing you, popped in your mind and your face warmed up. You were startled when someone poked you on your right shoulder.

"Uhh... Excuse me...?" said a familiar voice. You tried to calm down before you turned around to see the red-haired boy, smiling. You smiled back at him, hoping your face wasn't red and paid attention to what he said to you. "I wanted to thank you for the cookies. They were really good!"

You chuckled and then told him that you were glad that he liked them. Then he continued to talk. "And uhm... I kind of wanted to introduce myself properly? I mean you already know my name but I don't know yours even though you made cookies for me, a complete stranger and so, uhm... I'm Hinata Shouyou!"

You thought that it was adorable that he was embarrassed and a bit flustered and you had to start giggling. You introduced yourself too and somehow you two ended up, talking about random facts about yourselves. 

You had found out about Hinata that he had a sweet tooth, that he was quite energetic and that he loved playing volleyball since he was in middle school. When he entered Karasuno High he wanted to join the volleyball club but there was another person who wanted to join as well and they did not get along with each other well. The members did not let them enter the club until they got along with each other. They somehow did manage to get into the club but they still fought a lot but those were only a few quarrels and in the twinkling of an eye, they had turned into team members who trusted each other. The story was interesting for you and you wanted to hear more of it until there was a person, standing behind Hinata, who was glaring at him like he wanted to murder him.

"Dumbass, you're going to be late for class!" the black-haired, tall guy shouted as he gave the red-haired, shorter guy a slap on his head. Hinata winced and then shouted "Bakageyama" at him. The tall boy dragged him off and then stopped for a moment to glare at you which sent shivers down your spine. He was so intimidating and his glare was like a knife which stabbed your body over and over again. Your heart was beating like crazy until he slightly bowed, mumbling an apology and then walking away with Hinata.

You blinked a few times to realize what had just happened and your heart slowly calmed down. The raven-haired guy wasn't as scary as you thought he'd be. The impression of him you had in the first seconds was: Terrifying. But after he bowed down and apologized, he was less terrifying. You had to admit that his action caught you off guard and that it was kind of... cute.

The school bell rang which snapped you out of your mind. You couldn't afford being late for the first lesson because almost every teacher hated it when the students were late and then some of them would be in a bad mood during the whole lesson! You checked if you were carrying your bag before you ran towards your classroom even though it wasn't allowed to run in the hallways. But this was an emergency. You didn't want to be late for the lesson.

\----------

The school bell rang and so, lunch time finally started as you stretched your arms. You took out your lunch box and went to the rooftop, checking if the door might have been opened by someone. However, it was locked. You sighed and then walked to the school yard and ate at the same place where you and your friend sat yesterday.

You opened your lunch box and it contained different sandwiches. You took one of them out, taking a bite and then chewing it. You looked around yourself and only saw a few students walking around. You turned your head to the place where you had met Hinata for the first time, hoping he might be there.

But your heart sank as no one stood there. Instantly, you shook your head to stop thinking that you needed someone to accompany you. It just felt a little bit strange that your best friend wasn't by your side right now. You continued to eat your food and hoped that the day would end faster than usually. 

"[Last name]!" someone called out to you and repeated your name again and again until you turned your head towards that person. It was the energetic boy you met at morning and the raven-haired boy was accompanying him, complaining that he was too noisy.

"Hey, Hinata!" you said and grinned like an idiot. You couldn’t describe how happy you were when Hinata suddenly called your name and appeared in your field of vision.

Hinata grinned at you happily when he stood in front of you. His companion stood beside him, glaring at him and then at you. You wanted to avoid his glare at any costs. You thought of running away and hiding for the rest of the day. His glare was stabbing you again like this morning. How could you even think that he was cute? His glare could probably kill people.

Hinata must have noticed that his friend was staring at you intensely because he nudged his friend with his elbow. "Ah yeah, I forgot to introduce him to you," the red-haired boy said as he pointed at the raven-haired boy. "His name's Kageyama Tobio and he's one of my team members!"

"Do you think that I can't introduce myself?" Kageyama hissed and grabbed Hinata by his head who was apologizing and asking "Kageyama-san" to let go of his head. You couldn't help it and started laughing. They both turned their heads to you in unison. They had a confused expression.

After you calmed down you explained to them why you began to laugh. "First of all... I'm sorry if I'm insulting you, Kageyama-san, but you're scary. And Hinata is a cheerful person and it's kind of interesting that a grumpy and scary guy like you hangs out with a cheerful and energetic guy like Hinata."

"We both share the same passion. If he wouldn't love volleyball as much as I do then I wouldn't want to be friends with him," Kageyama replied, his hand still on Hinata's head. But his hand was simply resting on his friend’s head.

"Well, I also wouldn't want to be friends with a scary-looking guy like you if you weren't interested in volleyball!" the shorter boy rejoined and his head was grabbed again.

You chuckled and told them to quit fighting. "There's nothing wrong with you two being friends. I just thought that your friendship is... Unique and interesting. You don't need to understand my brain, neither do I. Your friendship kind of captured my attention."

They had confused looks in unison again. Hinata asked the questions they both had in their minds: "What do you mean it’s 'unique'? And 'it captured your attention'?" 

"Well, you see...."

\---------

"... So, basically people with outstanding looks, behavior or skills catch your attention as well as objects," Kageyama summed up. You nodded. You had told them about different cases because you couldn’t find the right words to describe your habit.

Then the school bell rang. The lunch time was over. You were a bit sad because Hinata and Kageyama were interesting and fun people to be with even though you only got to know them for one day.

The rest of the week you would spend time with those dorks during lunch time. Your friend still wasn’t able to come to school because your friend had the migraine. You had found out when you visited your school mate who was lying in bed the whole time. Your friend asked you about Sugawara but you hadn’t seen him. And that was good because you knew that the images of the dream you had would come back again and you would be too embarrassed to look at his face. 

But what you didn’t expect on Sunday morning was that the silver-haired third-year was sitting in your living room, drinking tea with your parents and talking to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **UPDATE: I changed Saturday into Sunday! Because I found out that Japanese students also do have school on Saturday hahaha..**
> 
>  
> 
> There’s nothing much happening here… And the last part is a bit rushed… But the next chapter will be much better. I think. Probably. Well, this chapter is more about other characters, introducing them etc.  
> 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You stood in front of the door which led to the living room and took a breath before you pressed down the door handle. You were about to greet them all with a cheerful “Good morning!” but you ended up leaving your mouth open when you saw who was paying them a visit.

It was Sunday morning, around 9 am when you stood up and went to the bathroom. You wanted to stay in your bed, curling in your warm blanket, but you had to do the house chores. 

You brushed your teeth and took a quick shower. Afterwards you went back to your room and changed your clothes. Then you went downstairs to the kitchen and opened the fridge when you heard your parents, laughing.

Usually, they’d keep their conversations quiet because they didn’t want to wake you up. So, they either knew that you already were awake or they had visitors. It would be rude of you if you didn’t say “good morning” to your parents and greet their guest. 

You closed the fridge again and decided to walk towards the living room before you made your breakfast. You stood in front of the door which led to the living room and took a breath before you pressed down the door handle. You were about to greet them all with a cheerful “Good morning!” but you ended up leaving your mouth open when you saw who was paying them a visit.

It was your upperclassman, Sugawara Koushi. You blinked a few times before you realized that you left your jaw open. They were staring at you, waiting for you to say something. You closed the door behind you and proceeded to tell them what you wanted to. But you ended up stuttering, making you look nervous and timid. 

“Good morning, [first name]! Sugawara-kun, this is our one and only child, [last name] [first name] and the person you’re going to teach in [worst subject]. [First name], this is Sugawara Koushi-kun who’s going to be your tutor,” your mother introduced you to each other happily. 

You still couldn’t believe what was happening and remained silent. Your mother harrumphed, obviously trying to get your attention. You looked at her and saw that she made the kind of face which said “Child, say something!”.

“I-I’ll be in your care, Sugawara-san…” you slightly bowed and fiddled with your fingers when you stood upright again. _Your prince came for you._ You immediately shook your head, hoping you could get rid of that thought. This wasn’t the time to be thinking of the dream again!

You were taking a glance at your upperclassman who looked away and had put a hand over his mouth, stifling a laugh. Was he laughing at your weird behavior? You felt embarrassed and lowered your head. You wished the ground would open and swallow you up. After another couple of seconds of awkwardness the silver-haired boy coughed slightly, trying to get your attention.

You glanced at him and saw his usual dazzling and angelic smile. He said: “I’ll be in your care too and I hope I’ll be able to help you in that subject.”

Silence filled the room again. It was so awkward to face him again after the last encounter and your behavior just now didn’t make the situation any better. You silently cursed your friend who made the encounter the other day even more awkward than it already was. You snapped out of your thoughts when your father spoke up: “Didn’t you say you had an errand to run, Sugawara-kun? We don’t want to take more of your time and we introduced you two to each other, so I think we’re done for today.”

“Ah, yes,” Sugawara responded and picked up his bag before he stood up. You opened the door for him, staring on the ground. You couldn’t look at his face. You weren’t mentally prepared for it after what happened the past week. You could hear your mother and father standing up from their seats as well and someone taking steps towards the door. But the person stood still in front of you. 

You squeezed your eyes shut, hoping it wasn’t **him** and lowered your head even more. Suddenly a hand brushed your head and you flinched and immediately looked up. 

“You neither need to be so stiff nor nervous. You can see me as an upperclassman, helping my freshman out. Or as a friend, helping out,” your soon-to-be tutor reassured you, smiling kindly and ruffling your hair gently. “I hope we’ll be able to get along well.”

Why did you suddenly feel calm again? His smile, his voice,… Everything about him was soothing. This also applied to your mother. Maybe that’s the reason why you felt relaxed around him. He reminded you of your mother. Both of them had a calming effect on you. The way they talked to you, the way they treated you and their genuine, kind and reassuring smile made you feel safe and comfortable.

“Me too…” you merely whispered and tried not to avert his eyes. He seemed to have heard you because he nodded and walked past you. Your father followed him and talked to him about some further details about the tutoring. Your mother went towards you and said to you: “Sugawara-kun is only able to help you once a week and there are going to be times when it has to be cancelled because he’s busy with his own exams and also club activities.”

You turned your head towards your mother who was smiling friendly at you. Then she patted your shoulder and headed to the entrance hallway. You stayed behind in the living room, thinking about what had just happened as you slowly put your hair back to its original shape before the silver-haired ruffled it.

For the first time in your life the person you were attracted to wasn’t disgusted, crept out by you or tried to avoid you. You really did hate your fetish for people, other living beings or objects which you found interesting. Yes, it was a fetish. You haven’t told Sugawara about it yet but the way you acted around him the other day was already weird. Giving pastries to a stranger as an apology? 

Why were you actually doing it? There was a boy, an upperclassman in your middle school who… “Honey! Can you please do the house chores while we run an errand? We’ll be back as soon as we can!”

Your thoughts were abruptly stopped by your mother who was shouting from the distance. You heard your parents chattering with each other and then keys jingling before the door was shut.

You walked out of the living room and searched for the necessary utensils to start the house chores. You had to wipe off the dust from the small items like photo frames and souvenirs through to the big objects like your television and shelves. After that you had to give the floor a sweep and clean the windows. You breathed a sigh. You had to do a lot of work today and afterwards you had to finish the left-over homework. So, the quicker you finished the tasks you had to carry out, the more free time you would have.

\---------- 

“Aaaahhh…” you groaned as you sat down on the sofa in your living room. You were physically exhausted from the work and wanted to take a nap. You did the house chores for more than an hour without taking a single break. Maybe you should have taken a break. Your back was aching and your arms were weak from cleaning **all** windows of **every** room.

You lay down on the sofa and sighed. There was still a pile of homework assignments which had to be done. You decided to lie there for a few minutes to regain your strength and to mentally prepare yourself for more work. 

_Sugawara was going to be your tutor._ You smiled unconsciously at that thought. And you would finally be able to understand what you were doing in [worst subject]!

You closed your eyes, inhaling and then exhaling. You opened your eyes again and stood up. You suddenly felt motivated to do the homework, so you quickly walked up to your room and sat down on your swivel chair which was situated next to your desk. 

You took out your pencil case along with a pad and school books. You opened your pencil case and took out a ball pen and opened one of your books, starting to do the homework which has been given to you.

\----------

You sighed as you pushed yourself away from the desk, causing the chair to go backwards. You massaged your temples, hoping that the headache would disappear soon. It had been almost an hour since you’ve been working on the homework assignments and there was still no signs of your parents. 

You stood up from your chair and plopped down on your bed. You lay on your stomach and buried your face into your pillow. Your stomach rumbled. You forgot to eat breakfast because you wanted to be polite and greet your parents’ guest. But you didn’t expect the guest to be Sugawara Koushi. 

Your stomach rumbled again. You needed something to eat and also some rest. Maybe you should just lie here for a few minutes and then go to the kitchen to see if there were any ingredients left with which you could cook yourself a meal.

You turned around, changing your lying position. You looked to your left, to the small table on which your alarm clock stood and your cell phone lay. You noticed that the small lamp of your cell phone was blinking and decided to take a look. You picked up your phone and unlocked your screen and then swiped down to see the notifications.

It was your best friend who sent you more than ten messages. You pressed on the notification with your thumb and read what your friend sent you.

“I’m still sick and lying in my bed is like torture”  
“Please entertain me”  
“Hello?”  
“????”  
“HeeeelllloooOoOOOO??”  
“Please answer me”  
“I’m a sick potato”  
“And I’m still bored”  
“*sobs*”  
“I get it, you don’t want to talk to me”  
“Fine with me”  
“…”  
“I’m lonely”

You grinned while reading the messages. You began to type a reply as you noticed that someone else sent you a message. You quickly finished typing. “Sorry, I was doing house chores and my homework. I hope you get well soon!”

You dragged down the bar again and blinked a few times. You didn’t expect to receive a message from Hinata. The other day during lunch break he was complaining so much about [best subject] that you told him you could help him and he could ask you a question anytime. That led to exchanging phone numbers.

“Could you make pastries again if that’s not too much to ask for? (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧”

You chuckled at his response. His way of expressing himself with emoticons was adorable in your opinion. You saw that Hinata was typing and waited for him to send the message.

“They were so good and everyone from the volleyball club also did say that they were tasty ∗ •́ ڡ •̀ ∗”  
“Ah I hope you don’t mind that I shared them with my team members! (((( ;°Д°))))“

He was writing in such a cute style. You chuckled again. You never met a boy before who’d send those emoticons.

You started typing your reply as you thought if you should add an emoticon too. You exited the messaging app you were using and searched in your browser for emoticons and copied one which fit to your response. Then you opened the app again, pasted it in and pressed on the send button.

“Sure, I will when I’ve got time (*´꒳`*)”

As you waited for a reply, you heard a click and bags rattling. Then you heard your mother’s voice, shouting: “We’re back!”

You quickly locked your screen and put back your cell phone on the small table. You stood up and ran downstairs to help your parents, putting away the stuff they bought.

You were currently putting away the vegetables into the fridge when you heard your father, groaning next to you. “Aaaah, we forgot to buy salt. Of course it had to be salt. The most essential ingredient for cooking.”

Then he turned to you, sulking and looking at you with big eyes. “Can you do me a favor? Could you please go and buy salt?”

You quickly turned your head towards the fridge again and put a hand over your mouth, suppressing a laughter. Your father knew that you’d buy the salt even without him, pouting and trying to look like a puppy. But he always wanted to show off his “acting skills”. He talked a lot about his time in high school when he entered the theatre club and always had the leading role. 

You cleared your throat and answered: “Sure, is there anything else which I should buy for you, Dad?”

“Hm… Honey?? Is there anything else which we forgot to buy aside from salt??” your father shouted loud enough for your mother to hear. You stood right next to him, so the volume of his voice was rather uncomfortable for your ears.

“I think we forgot to buy milk! Could you buy two or three cartons of milk??” your mother shouted back as she walked down the stairs. You finished putting the rest of the groceries away and received money from your father. You went upstairs and put down the money on your desk and quickly changed to your street clothes. Then you fetched the money as well as your keys and put it into your pockets and went downstairs. You put on your shoes and bid goodbye to your parents before you opened the front door, stepping outside and closing the door behind you.

You walked down the path to the Sakanoshita store which you knew too well. You stretched your arms, closed your eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air. You opened your eyes again and kept walking on the same road. Maybe you should have brought along more money. You could have bought the ingredients for the pastries you wanted to make for Hinata. 

You lightly scratched the back of your head. But there might still be enough ingredients at home. If there was then you could bake today or tomorrow.

\---------

About five minutes later you arrived at the store. You were greeted by the blond-haired clerk, the only person you’ve seen working here. He sat at the counter, smoking and reading the newspapers like every day. 

You nodded and politely greeted him back. Then you started searching for the things you were asked to buy. It was easy to find them because the store wasn’t that big.

You heard the doors opening automatically and you took a quick glance at the person who entered the store. It was a mailman, walking towards the clerk. They had a short conversation and then the blond-haired man stood up. Your gaze somehow ended up, following the mailman and the clerk.

The clerk noticed that you were staring at them and that you were holding goods in your hands and spoke to you: “I’ll be right back, so please wait for a minute.

You nodded and looked at the other goods the store had in the meantime. You visited the store quite frequently because your parents always forgot to buy something and this was the closest store to your home.

Then you heard the doors opening again, expecting the clerk to enter the store. But those were two boys who entered and laughed loudly. One of them was a rather short person and his brown hair was styled wildly, most of his hair ruffled upwards, making him look a bit taller. He wore black pants and an red jacket over his white T-shirt. The other one had a buzzcut and wore a pair of jeans and a leather jacket over his white shirt. He looked like someone who’d be mistaken as a delinquent. If he wouldn’t be fooling around with his friend right now then you might have mistaken him for one.

You flinched when the shorter boy looked at you. Immediately you turned away but you flinched again when someone shouted: “AH, YOU!!”

You nervously looked around if there were other customers he could have meant but unfortunately you were the only customer in the store besides those two. 

You slightly turned around to them. You didn’t know who they were. But you might have seen them at your school. You weren’t sure about it. What you were sure about though was that you’d never talked to them or encountered them.

“You’re that girl who gave Shouyou those delicious cookies right?? Ryu, I’m sure that this is her!!” he shouted the whole time while shaking his friend. The boy with the buzzcut was astonished and quickly scanned you from head to toe. You didn’t know what to think about this situation. Were they friends of Hinata? The shorter boy did just say Hinata’s first name… 

“She’s the one who gave Hinata and Suga-san those cookies?? But there’s no way that she’s also the one who caused Hinata’s nosebleed!” the taller boy shouted back at his friend.

Your heart was stung. It felt like being stabbed by a dagger. The memory of you, making Hinata bleed was still engraved in your mind. You tried to suppress it. You tried to. As well as the memory of the encounter with Sugawara. Along with that dream you had of him. Okay, you needed to stop thinking about embarrassing moments or you’d get even more nervous than you already were.

But what should you do now? Approach them? Let them approach you? Or run away-

You snapped out of your thoughts as they came closer to you. You took a step back, only to be met with a shelf. Your heart started beating faster. The boy with the wild hair asked you loudly: “Hey, you! Do you know Shouyou??”

They both slowly took another step towards you, asking more and more questions. You opened your mouth and wanted to respond to them but your voice was stuck in your throat. What were you supposed to- “STOP HARRASSING HER!!”

The clerk was back with a big package and shouted at the two boys who were startled by him. They turned their heads towards him and wanted to explain that they only wanted to ask you if you were acquainted with Hinata.

“But there’s no need to get so close to her! Just look at her! She’s clearly terrified!” the man scolded the two boys who lowered their heads in defeat. You weren’t the one who was shouted at but you felt intimidated by him. He did just help you out but the volume of his voice frightened you.

The man’s gaze wandered to you and he apologized with the same loudness which gave you a shock. “Come on, you two! Apologize to her!

The boys gave you a jump when they turned around to you and bowed before you. They shouted in sync and even louder than the man: “W-WE’RE SORRY! WE DIDN’T MEAN YOU ANY HARM!!”

They still bowed before you while the clerk glared sternly at them. Your heart was beating like crazy for the past few minutes and it still was. You took deep breaths to calm down. There was no need to be so nervous. But it was uncomfortable that the two boys still bowed and didn’t move an inch.

“Please raise your heads again. There’s no need to apologize to me… I was remembering something embarrassing and then you suddenly asked me so many questions and I got so nervous. I was just overwhelmed by everything. I should be the one apologizing…” you said apologetic. You lowered your head and held the goods, which you still had to pay for, closer to your body. You hoped you didn’t say anything strange.

“NO, WE’RE DEFINITELY AT FAULT, SO DON’T APOLOGIZE!!” you were startled as they shouted at the same volume again. They stood upright again as you told them that you were partly at fault. 

The clerk put away the package he received as you told them the shortened version of how you met Hinata and Sugawara and confirmed that you were the girl who made the cookies. Their faces suddenly brightened and they looked at you with big eyes. You watched them, getting excited which confused you because you didn’t know what they were thinking. 

They looked at each other and then at you again and blurted out: “This might be rude of us to ask you but could you make some cookies again and share it with us??”

You covered your mouth with your hand and suppressed your laughter. They were the same as Hinata. Those two gave you a confusing look, so you coughed slightly said joyfully: “Sure, why not? Hinata also did say he wanted me to make some, so I might as well make a little bit more?”

Your schoolmates looked happily at you and thanked you over and over again. Then they introduced themselves to you. The shorter boy was the first one who introduced himself: “Nishinoya Yuu, 16 years old and I don’t have a girlfriend right now!”

“Tanaka Ryuunosuke, 16 years old and I also do not have a girlfriend! But I hope that Kiyoko-san will notice me someday!” Tanaka said energetic. You chuckled at their introductions. Both of them added information which you would usually not say when you met for the first time. But you liked that they were so open-minded. Also, they were your upperclassmen.

“I’m [last name] [first name]. It’s nice to meet you, Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san,” you said, bowing slightly. Then you realized that you were still holding the goods in your arms. You really did have to go home now or your parents would be worried and ask you at least a hundred questions when you were at home again. “I’m sorry but I was actually running an errand and I have return to my home now.”

You went to the counter and paid for the salt and the three cartons of milk. You received a plastic bag from the clerk and put the goods inside of it. You took the bag and quickly bid goodbye to your upperclassmen and the clerk. Then you stepped outside of the store and ran down the path you came from.

This week was eventful and you had to admit that it was fun even though there were embarrassing occurrences. The boys you had encountered so far were all from the volleyball club and lively people. You smiled unconsciously. You didn’t know why but you were actually happy to have met them all.

You definitely had to tell your friend about everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **UPDATE: I changed Saturday into Sunday! Because I found out that Japanese students also do have school on Saturday hahaha.. And also I changed Tanaka's and Nishinoya's age because that was stupid of me to write that they're both 17 already.**  
>   
>  I present you the fourth chapter of my fanfiction! I’M SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG BUT I DID PUT A LOT OF WORK INTO THIS CHAPTER I THINK And also I’ll edit Chapter 1 - 3 but there will be only small changes! They will NOT affect the story. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Good evening, this is Sugawara Koushi. If you have any questions on [worst subject], feel free to send me a message. And I hope I’m sending this to the correct number.”
> 
> It was him. Your savior. Your prince- No, your soon-to-be tutor. Your soon-to-be tutor was going to help you. You somehow needed to delete this memory of the dream.

It was Monday morning, you were ready to go to school and just bid goodbye to your parents. You swung open the front door and the sunlight was the first thing your eyes caught sight of. You help up a hand to protect your eyes and stepped outside.

Your heart sank when you closed the door behind you and your friend didn’t greet you with a cheerful “Good morning!”. In fact, your schoolmate wasn’t even waiting here. You shook your head. _They were probably waiting around the corner._ You continued walking down the path.

But you were wrong. You couldn’t see your friend anywhere nor could you hear them, calling you from the distance. Maybe your friend was waiting at school for you or- 

Your friend wasn’t coming.

The students in your surrounding walked past you and chattered loudly. Your grip around your school bag tightened. You couldn’t help but feel left out and lonely.

It’s only been a few days since you didn’t see your friend but you missed them. They were always by your side, so you felt something was missing. The other days your friend wasn’t by your side were fine for you because you didn’t think that much about it and Kageyama and Hinata were around. But you were so excited to meet your friend.

You sighed and walked through the school gate. You shouldn’t have expected your friend to come. You hated the feeling of disappointment when your expectations weren’t met. You’d feel your chest tighten like right now.

The noisiness increased once you entered the school building. You were currently at the entrance hall where the lockers were located. A lot of other students had already arrived, changing their shoes and some were still coming from behind you. 

You went to your locker and could have sworn that there were people, shouting from the distance. And those voices seemed to be familiar. You turned your head to the entrance door while opening your locker. You narrowed your eyes as the voices got louder. A red-head and a black-head were running towards the school entrance? 

Those could have only been Hinata and Kageyama.

The students, startled, immediately made space for them, not wanting to get into their way. And a few seconds later, Hinata jumped through the entrance, shouting a breathy: “I’ve won!”

Then Kageyama arrived just a split second later, breathing heavily. “Just because you ran ahead of me!”

They were both out of breath and leaning on the lockers, receiving stares from the other students. You, on the other hand, let out a soft laugh. These two were dorks. Both of them heard your voice and whipped their heads to you, still breathing heavily. You wished them a good morning and received a nod from Kageyama. Hinata breathed in and out a few times before he replied with a happy and cheerful “Good morning!”

You chuckled and were about to turn to your locker again when Hinata suddenly jumped, startling both you and Kageyama. Kageyama who was slowly regaining his strength shouted: “What the hell are you doing, dumbass?”

Hinata’s mind was elsewhere though, still staring at your direction. Until he came back to the real world and turned to Kageyama, replying with: “Ah, uhm, what were you saying?”

Weirdly, he suddenly avoided looking into your direction and fiddled with his fingers. Kageyama shot a glare at him as you tilted your head. Hinata got more nervous because of Kageyama’s uncomfortable stare and avoided looking both into your and Kageyama’s direction.

You turned your head to your locker, noticing a folded piece of paper on your indoor shoes. Did Hinata possibly see it? But there was no reason for him to act like this, was there? You took it out, unfolding it while in the background you could hear those two causing an uproar like usually.

“Dear [last name],

I didn’t get a chance to thank you for the pastries yet. And I don’t have your cellphone number, so this was the only way I thought I could get in contact with you. I wrote my cellphone number on a piece of paper and gave it to your parents. They told me you’d send me a message but I never received one. So, they must have forgotten. Also, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to meet you during lunch break, so this is the safest way.

Back to the main subject, the pastries you made were superb, so thank you for baking them. And sorry for the trouble you had to go through.

\- Sugawara Koushi

P.S.: I really do look forward to being your tutor. I hope we’re going to get along well.”

You bit on your lower lip as you read it, trying to suppress a smile. That was so sweet of him. You couldn’t help it and re-read it. However, the school bell ring took you back to reality.

You quickly looked around and the students were leaving to go to their destined classrooms. You realized that you were still wearing your outdoor shoes and put the letter inside your bag and then quickly changed your shoes. You put your outdoor shoes inside your locker and looked around a second time. Hinata and Kageyama had already left. You saw Hinata’s hair sticking out from the small crowd and called out to them but they couldn’t hear you over the noise of the students. Then they completely disappeared out of your sight.

You sighed and closed your locker. You wanted to ask them if you could eat lunch with them. Well, then you were going to have to visit their classrooms. And you’d have to inquire Hinata about his suspicious behavior. Your chest felt lighter and you felt your mood, improving.

You hurried to your classroom, so your teacher wouldn’t get mad.

\---------

You were holding your lunch box in your right hand and were on your way to Hinata’s classroom, humming to yourself. You hoped that he wasn’t gone yet. You reached out your spare hand to the door but withdrew it when the door slid open.

Your classmates Tsukishima and Yamaguchi stood in front of you. And somehow Tsukishima seemed to be in a bad mood. He was sending out bad vibes.

He glared at you, annoyed and then turned away, clicking his tongue which startled you. Yamaguchi looked in between you and Tsukishima. He seemed like he wanted to explain what was going on but at the same time he didn’t want to be left behind by his friend. So, he quickly bowed down, apologizing and caught up with his friend.

You blinked a few times, wondering what happened. But your attention wandered back to your main objective: Finding Hinata.

You gazed through the door and immediately spotted him. His messy red hair wasn’t easy to be overlooked. He was sitting at the second row, two seats away from the windows, sulking and surrounded by two friends.

“Are you looking for someone? A girl suddenly talked to you, startling you the second time this day. She laughed at your reaction. Embarrassed, you nodded and said you were looking for Hinata.

She turned to Hinata’s direction and shouted to him: “Hinata, someone’s here to see you! It’s…”

She then turned her head to you, asking for your name. You quickly replied and she turned back, shouting at Hinata. You waved at him and then held up your lunch box. He took his lunch box out of his bag, saying something to his friends and then walking towards you, grinning.

You smiled back at him and then you two left the classroom, closing the door behind you. You asked him if you should visit Kageyama’s classroom but he instantly replied repeatedly with “no”, shaking his head. He quickly looked around and then whispered: “I’m going to tell you when we’re out of Kageyama’s reach.”

You were confused but still went along with it.

On your way to the school yard, Hinata suddenly let out a long sigh. You lightly bumped your shoulder against his, inquiring him why he was sulking in the classroom and why he was sighing.

He looked at you, sulky and with teary eyes and complained: “That damn Tsukishima refused to teach me in [best subject]! He walked into my classroom in a reaaalllyyy bad mood, looking down on me and threw the exercises he asked me to do on my desk like this!”

He tried to reconstruct the event to make it easier for you to imagine. He made a grumpy face, shoving his imaginary glasses up and even clicked his tongue. He continued: “He said that I had the knowledge of an elementary student and that he wouldn’t help me anymore! And then he just walked off! Can you believe that??”

“But if it’s only [best subject], I could help you. I already mentioned a few days ago that I’d be glad to teach you. That’s the reason why we exchanged out cellphone numbers, remember?” you offered to aid him as he stopped cursing silently and pouting.

His face brightened and you could see sparkles in his eyes. You let out a soft laugh. He then made a noise which sounded like “Uuuoooohhhhhh!” and jumped up and down. You smiled at him. You were acquainted with him for only about a week but this was so typical of Hinata. Swiftly, your sweet smile turned into a smirk, making Hinata stop moving.

“There’s one condition though,” you added. “I want you to tell me why you were suddenly spacing out and acting like there was nothing wrong at all after you saw me opened locker.”

Hinata’s face suddenly went blank and lots all of its colors. His mind was elsewhere again. You called his name multiple times, waving a hand in front of his face. All of a sudden, he was back to reality again and laughed nervously and averted your stare. “Me and weird? Not at all, nothing’s wrong…”

You intensified your stare, making him more and more uncomfortable. He was moving his head from one direction to another, averting your eyes at all costs while laughing.

You sighed and decided to give up. “If you’re really feeling that uncomfortable then you don’t have to tell me. Let’s just go and eat our lunch or else the break’s going to be over before we even started…”

Unexpectedly, he grabbed your arm. You turned your head towards him, taken by surprise. “I’m going to tell you if you promise me that you won’t try to kill me like Kageyama does.”

You assured him that you wouldn’t and he let go. You walked to the schoolyard in silence, to the back of the building where Hinata and Sugawara played volleyball previously and where you…

You sat down on the grass and had the urge to apologize for the accident last week again but decided to let Hinata talk first. You both opened your lunch boxes and took out your chopsticks. You clasped your hands together and whispered “Let’s eat” at the same time and then began eating.

You ate in silence which made you feel uneasy. Usually, Hinata would answer your question quickly and then start babbling about his day, his teammates, just anything that came up to his mind. Was this subject making Hinata feel so uneasy?

Your trail of thoughts were interrupted when Hinata spoke up. “The reason why I acted like that is…”

You gulped down your food and looked at him. This was the reason why there was this awkward silence. This was the reason why you both felt uncomfortable. This was the reason why Hinata wouldn’t look you into your eyes right now.

“… that I told Suga-san where your locker is,” he continued. _Wh-what?_ He quickly turned his head towards you and apologized. “I told him about your locker without your permission, I’m sorry!”

“Wait a minute, Hinata. That’s the reason why you were nervous?” you questioned and received another apology from him. You sighed out of relief. You didn’t exactly know what to expect and honestly, you were a little bit scared but this… 

“I thought you’d be reaaallyyy mad at me for telling Suga-san without permission,” he reckoned and continued to eat, staring at his lunch box.

You sighed again, watching him eating. You were about to assure him that you wouldn’t get mad over something like that when he suddenly ate at an incredible speed, finishing his lunch and whispering “Thanks for the meal”. You watched him, putting the empty lunch box on the ground and the chopsticks on top of the box.

Then he finally looked you in the eye. “And I might have promised him that I’d send him your cellphone number… I’m sorry!”

You blinked a few times. You didn’t expect Hinata to apologize for these small matters. You were actually fine with them all, after all, Sugawara was going to be your soon-to-be tutor. Maybe Sugawara didn’t tell Hinata and that’s the reason why he kept apologizing?

“Hinata, you don’t need to keep apologizing. I’m fine with it, really. Besides that, Sugawara-san is going to be my tutor soon which is why it’s natural that he’s asking for ways to get into contact with me,” you explained to Hinata who was blinking a few times. He stared at the ground, looking like he was trying to remember something.

“Suga-san did mention that he was going to be your tutor and that’s why he…” he mumbled to himself, scratching the back of his head.

You were about to continue with eating when you remembered why he even told you this in the first place. You announced: “So, I guess this means I’m going to help you in [best subject].”

Then you stuffed an egg roll in your mouth. You glanced at him and saw a big grin, forming on his face. “Thank you, [last name]!”

You puffed and he started talking about why he was avoiding Kageyama.

\---------

School was over for you, you finished most of your homework and just finished eating dinner with your parents.

You were currently sitting at your desk, repeatedly pressing on the push-button of your pen. You were doing your home assignment in [worst subject] but it was impossible for you. You didn’t know how you were supposed to start the exercise nor what the solution was.

You sighed in defeat, putting down your pen and turning off your desk lamp. You pushed yourself away from your desk, causing the swivel chair to move away from your desk and bump against your bed. You tiredly stood up and turned on the lights of your room and then slumped onto your comfy but cold bed. You lay face-down and let out another sigh before you turned your head towards the small table next to your bed and stared absent-minded at the small clock. 8.34 pm.

You closed your eyes, taking a deep breath and breathing out again. You opened your eyes and reached out to your cellphone, pressing the power button for a short time and entering your password for your lock screen.

You had two new messages: one from [friend’s name] and the other one from an unknown number. It must’ve been from Sugawara. Either that or a spam message. You pressed on the notification with your thumb and read what your best friend had sent you.

“Did you miss me while I was not in school? Well, then I got good news for you! I’m better again and I’m going to go to school tomorrow! ヽ(´ω｀○)ﾉ.+ﾟ*｡:ﾟ+”

You smiled while reading and quickly typed in your reply: “I’m glad you’re better again. See you tomorrow then!”

After sending it, you pressed on the back button. You saw the unknown number on your screen and a part of the message. “Good evening, this is…” 

You gulped. You hoped that this was Sugawara. A part of you expected it to be a prank message but a small part doubted that it was a prank. If this was Sugawara then he could help you with your homework right now. And you could ask him anytime if you had any questions. During dinner time, you had asked your parents for his cellphone number but they forgot where they had put the piece of paper with his number.

You shook your head and then pressed firmly on the unknown number.

“Good evening, this is Sugawara Koushi. If you have any questions on [worst subject], feel free to send me a message. And I hope I’m sending this to the correct number.”

It was him. Your savior. Your prince- No, your soon-to-be tutor. Your soon-to-be tutor was going to help you. You somehow needed to delete this memory of the dream.

But how were you going to reply? You scratched the back of your head and then started typing.

“Don’t worry, you got the right number”

No, that sounded too casual. You deleted what you had written and pondered how you could sound more formal, showing more respect to your upperclassman. He had told you that you shouldn’t be so stiff and thus too formal around him and he also did say that you were supposed to see him as a friend, helping out. However, you couldn’t help it. You felt a need to use tact.

“Yes, this is [last name]. I’m currently doing an exercise in [worst subject]. Is it possible for you to help me now?”

You re-read what you had typed. Content with it, you sent it to him and saved him in your contacts. Now you’d have to wait for him to reply. You hoped he was going to see your reply tonight or else you’d have to delay your homework to tomorrow. The worst-case scenario would be that he ended up replying on the day your homework had to be finished. Which would be in two days. You did try to do your homework with the internet before but it wouldn’t help you that much. You wouldn’t learn anything from it. 

You made sure that the vibration of your phone was turned on, so you wouldn’t miss his message. You turned the screen off and put down the phone on the small table. You shifted to another position. What else did you still have to do?

Brush your teeth, change your clothes, charge your phone, pack your school bag…

You didn’t feel like doing anything. You were demotivated, just thinking about [worst subject]. But you had to get up. You sighed and stood up, walking to your desk and searching for your charger in the drawers. You took it out and went to the small table next to your bed and plugged in your cellphone on one end and the other in the socket. Then you went to the bathroom.

\---------

You came back, quickly changed your clothes and checked your phone. No new messages. You put it back and packed your school bag. After you were done you glanced at your calendar. 

Today was the 26th September. There were only 3 weeks left until you had your midterm exams. You were already studying every day but you felt like it wasn’t enough. And then at the beginning of December you’d have your final exams. You really did need help in [worst subject]. But your upperclassman was busy with his own exams too. Why did he even accept in the first place? He was busier than you were and still decided to tutor you.

Suddenly you heard loud and continuously vibrations and turned around. Someone was calling you. Who’d call you during this hour? It was probably your friend, wanting to talk to you or asking for something.

You walked to the small table and looked at whose name was on the screen. The person you’d least expect to call you. It was Sugawara. Sugawara Koushi.

S-Sugawara?! Why was he calling you? Was it only accidently? But if it would’ve been an accident then he would have hung up by now. How should you answer? Good evening? Hello? Hey, why’re you calling-

Ok, you had to answer the call right now or he was going to hang up. You unplugged the charger and separated it from the phone and then took a deep breath. You exhaled and pressed on “Answer”.

You held your phone close to your ear and stuttered a “Hello?”. You heard a muffled voice, coughing slightly from the other line which became clearer and turned into the soothing voice you’d always recognize everywhere. “Good evening. I hope I wasn’t disturbing you.”

“N-no, you weren’t. But why are you calling me?” you replied and mentally slapped yourself for stuttering.

“I thought it’d be easier to explain the exercise to you by talking instead of writing a text which you would have to wait for,” he explained in one sentence.

“But is it alright with you if you’d help me right now? I don’t want you to feel forced to help me,” you worried as you walked through your room.

“I offered to aid you, so I’m not forcing myself. Or is it that I’m forcing myself on you? If I’m being pushy or making you feel uneasy in any way, then please tell me-“

“No, no, you aren’t making me feel uncomfortable at all! I was just thinking you must be busy with your own studies and I didn’t want you to have to waste your time because of me,” you blurted out and stopped in your tracks. You unconsciously played with the strands of your hair.

“I wouldn’t have accepted to be your tutor if…” he muttered to himself. What was he trying to say? He coughed slightly and began anew. “You should worry about your own grades instead of mine. Besides, I’m not wasting my time. I’m helping out my freshman. And it’s good for me to revise things I’ve already learnt in the past.” 

You had the urge to fight back. You were glad that he accepted to be your tutor but he was busy with his own life, his future. You couldn’t make him busier than he already was. “But you’re already a third year student which means you have to prepare yourself for the entrance exams for the university-“

“I know. I know and that’s why I mentioned that I will only have time to tutor you once a week which might have to be cancelled at times,” he instantly interrupted you. His voice was trembling. It wasn’t trembling from raising his voice but from pain.

You felt your chest, stinging. You shouldn’t have mentioned it. You shouldn’t have reminded him that he was a third year and thus was going to leave the school soon. Along with his club and his team members he had built up a relationship with. And he was possibly being separated from his friends.

There was a moment of silence. You put your spare hand over the microphone of your phone and breathed deeply in and out. You had to apologize and change the subject. You drew your hand back and spoke up. “I’m sorry for what I just said. I shouldn’t have opened my mouth to remind you of the things you were already aware of. It was stupid and inconsiderate of me. I should be grateful that you’re willing to help me even though you’re busy. So, thank you, Sugawara-san.” 

You quickly added: “Can I do you the honor of lending me a hand?”

There was another moment of silence before you heard a muffled, soft laugh through your phone. His laugh seemed to calm down your heart. “I’d be glad to lend you a hand. What’s the problem?”

You went to your desk and set your phone down and enabled the loudspeakers. You turned on the lamp on your desk and then put out the lights which were lightening the room. You put your swivel chair back to your desk and sat down. Then you read the exercise out loud and took a pen in your hand, prepared to write.

\---------

It was around 10 pm when you finally finished. You still had a problem with how you were supposed to begin the exercise. But after Sugawara sent you a photo of a rough draft he wrote in a few minutes which was neatly written, it became a smaller problem. You still had to practice this but you were sure that you could do this in a few weeks.

“Thank you, Sugawara-san. Without you, I wouldn’t even have one decently made homework. So, thank you very much. I don’t know how to express my gratitude right now besides keep thanking you,” you thanked him over and over again, stifling a yawn. You turned off the loudspeakers and pressed your phone against your ear.

Sugawara chuckled. “You don’t have to keep thanking me. It’s my pleasure. I’m glad that I could help you. And you seem to be tired, so I’m going to hang up now. Also, I really don’t mind it if you call me when I’m at home. I’ll just send you a message and let you know whenever I’m busy or free.”

You replied with a quiet “okay”. You began feeling drowsy and his calming voice wasn’t making it any better.

“Alright then… I wish you a good night. Sleep well,” he said in a small voice. He must’ve been tired too. You replied with “good night” and then hung up. Your arm sank down and your grip around your cellphone tightened. You definitely had to get better in [worst subject]. You didn’t want to tire him out nor did you want to take too much of his time.

You turned off the light of your lamp and then went to your bed and sat down. You pressed on the power button of your cellphone and turned it towards your alarm clock to check if you had turned on the alarm.

Then you put your cellphone on the small table and went under the blanket. You shifted to a comfortable position and closed your eyes.

Sugawara was kind enough to aid you. You had to do your best not to be a burden to him and you needed to repay him. You could keep making pastries even if that wasn’t enough to show your gratitude.

_“But you took your time and put a lot of effort into it while thinking about the person. Don’t you think that it’s enough for them, knowing that? Well, if it’d be in their position I’d be happy if someone would do that for me.”_

You swiftly opened your eyes. Where did that memory suddenly come from? And who said that? And why were you feeling a mixture of happiness and sadness?

You pulled your blanket over your head. You didn’t know. You couldn’t remember at all. The memory was too fuzzy. You could only remember how the voice sounded. It belonged to a boy. A boy who sounded like a cheerful but also calming person and was beginning to hit puberty. 

You hoped that the memories would return to you soon. They seemed to be important and precious to you because you felt pain in your chest, not being able to remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: I changed the 30th of September to 26th of September because I did some research and Karasuno has a practice match on the 1st October, so..
> 
> I'm sorry for taking so long but in June and July I was busy with studying for exams and around August I started working on this chapter! But here you go. And this is the longest chapter so far, so please enjoy it!  
> And also: I edited the chapters from 1-4 but those were only small changes which did not affect the story. Ok, well besides chapter 4. I changed Saturday into Sunday.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s alright, there’s no need to apologize.”
> 
> The feeling of relief filled your heart as you read the message. Those were only simple nine words but you could visualize how Sugawara would smile at you and say this phrase with his soothing voice. After he finished saying it, a small laughter would escape from his lips and you’d see a happy and soft expression on his face.

You hummed to yourself as filled your lunch box with sandwiches. Today your friend was back again. You had to talk about all the people you met and also that your parents had found a tutor for you. You also had to thank Sugawara properly for helping you out last night. Maybe if you quickly finished your homework and delayed the studies to the next days, you’d be able to have time to make pastries. You had also promised to bake something for Tanaka, Nishinoya and Hinata. Then you cold as well make portions for your friend and Kageyama.

You turned around to look at the kitchen which hung above the door frame. You didn’t have much time left. You had to finish quickly or you were going to let your friend wait. 

You closed your lunch box and went upstairs to your room to get your school bag and keys. You stuffed your keys in your bag and then you went downstairs to the kitchen. You put your lunch box inside your bag and finally, you went to the living room to bid goodbye to your parents. You quickly walked to the entrance hall and put your shoes on, leaving the house.

Your friend was there, waiting in front of your house with this big smile you loved seeing. You greeted them first with a big smile, unable to contain your happiness and told them what they had missed the past few days.

\---------

“You seemed to have a lot of fun without me,” your friend pouted as you stood in line for bread in the cafeteria. You didn’t tell them about Sugawara yet because you hadn’t have the time to do so this morning. 

“Well, I can ask Hinata if we could meet up tomorrow, so you can join the fun,” you suggested while grinning. Your friend’s face immediately brightened. 

Your schoolmate was at turn and paid for a melon bread and a sandwich filled with ham and eggs. You were about to start talking about what you had intended to do in the morning but you were interrupted by a loud voice, shouting: “Ah, Asahi-san!! It’s [last name]-san, you know the one who made the pastries!”

“Nishinoya, please calm down…! You’re causing trouble for [last name]-san!” his friend Asahi said, troubled by Nishinoya’s action. Nishinoya was pointing at you with his one hand and hitting his tall and bearded friend with his other hand. 

Everyone in the cafeteria actually did start staring at you, making you feel uncomfortable but you decided to ignore it and smile and wave at them. Your friend inquired: “I suppose the shorter one is Nishinoya-senpai? And his tall buddy was with Sugawara-senpai the last time, wasn’t he?”

You nodded and lowered your arm. Nishinoya was grinning at you and waving at you happily while his friend lowered his head to apologize for Nishinoya. You smiled at them one last time before you left the cafeteria with your friend and the feeling of discomfort left you.

\---------

“Ah, I forgot to ask Nishinoya-san where we could meet up, so I could hand him the pastries,” you remembered as you were about to bite into your sandwich.

Your friend had already taken a huge bite of their melon break, causing their cheeks to be stuffed with it and making them look like a hamster. They attempted to talk but were cut off by you. “Please talk after you gulped down your food.”

They protested by making sounds but they still listened to you. You waited for them to chew their food and swallow it. 

“But you can wait for them before or after their volleyball practice, right?” your friend suggested. You took a bite of your sandwich and thought about it. You answered as soon as you swallowed the bite.

“I guess that’s an option but I don’t want to disturb them before practice plus they might be at home later just because I want to give them pastries… I don’t know when they got practice anyway.”

“But would you actually mind it if someone waited for you to finish your business to hand you something handmade? You wouldn’t, would you? Wouldn’t you rather feel flattered?” your friend asked and then stuffed the rest of their melon bread in their mouth. 

You took another bite of your sandwich and chewed, listening to your friend who encouraged you. “How about making them into good-luck pastries? The exams are around the corner plus I heard the next tournament for the volleyball clubs in Miyagi is starting soon.”

You swallowed your food. “Where did you get this information from? Are you perhaps… stalking them?”

“No way! How can you nonchalantly accuse me of being a stalker! My friend and classmate is their club manager. That’s how I got to know about it!” your friend huffed. You quickly apologized and said you were only joking. 

Then you added: “But it’s just really weird that you know almost everything…”

“Like the fact that you’re Sugawara’s student?” You choked on your food and started coughed, receiving some hits on your back from your friend. 

As soon as you stopped coughing, you asked: “Where did you get this information? I haven’t told you about it yet.”

“Well, it was just a hunch,” your friend admitted and stretched out their tongue. You continued eating, furrowing your eyebrows. Sometimes you wondered whether they actually knew or if they were only guessing every time.

\---------

The rest of the week you couldn’t manage to meet up with Hinata which made your friend a bit gloomy. Hinata apologized to you in his texts and explained why he couldn’t. He was escaping from Kageyama who visited his classroom every day with a scary smile. Also during practice, Kageyama would hit the volleyballs with a monstrous strength whenever it was time for Hinata to receive. Apparently, Kageyama started to act like this after Hinata drew on his face on Monday while he was sleeping.

Kageyama could be a really scary person. But even so, you couldn’t help but think that Kageyama and Hinata were good friends. If they wouldn’t get along with each other then they wouldn’t want to see the other person’s face every day, would they? But they would definitely deny it if you told them. That’s just how they were.

You also didn’t see or contact Sugawara for the rest of the week. You hadn’t have any questions for [worst subject] yet, so there was no need to contact him. But you wondered whether he would visit this week. Practically, he already did his job as your tutor through the phone call. You had to inquire him about it.

\---------

It was Sunday afternoon when you decided to contact Suga about the tutoring before you would forget about it completely. You had already finished your homework and weren’t sure what to do this afternoon. So, it was time to initiate the conversation.

You grabbed your cell phone from your bedside table and sat down on your bed. You unlocked your screen and opened your messaging app and searched for the conversation you had with him at the beginning of the week. You started typing: “Dear Sugawara”

Instantly, you stopped writing and deleted the message. Wouldn’t he scold you if you were trying to be “too polite” or formal again? You thought of another way to address him and after a few seconds you started typing again.

“Yooo Suga-san” 

You tried suppressing your laughter but it only lead to you, laughing out loud. It was definitely less polite. What if you actually sent this to him? Well, if he was going to complain about it then you would blame him for it because he wanted you to be less formal to him. Who were you kidding? There was no way you could send him this message-

You pressed on the enter button instead of backspace. It took you a few seconds to realize what you had done and you began panicking. This wasn’t a proper way to address your upperclassman. You quickly typed an apology which ended up getting longer.

Suddenly your cell phone turned off. You hadn’t realized that your cell phone’s battery was low. You instantly stood up to search for your recharger which you found in one of the drawers of your desk. You hurriedly took it out, causing it to slip from your hands. 

You picked up the recharger from the ground and connected it with the cell phone. Then you plugged the recharger into the socket which was carved into the wall next to your bed. You had to wait for your phone’s battery to charge until it had one percent before you could turn it back on. You sat down on your bed with your phone in your hand and waited. 

You felt restless. What were you going to tell him? How were you going to explain it to him? Were you actually going to blame him that he wanted you to be less formal? Or were you going to tell him that it was your friend who sent it?

After about a minute of waiting impatiently, you could finally press the on/off-switch. But you ended up having to wait again until you could enter the pin code and then the password to unlock the screen. You felt your hands getting sweaty as you searched for the messaging app and opened it.

He didn’t read it yet. You sighed out of relief. But what were you going to do? It’s not good to lie, saying that it was your friend but it was the only plausible explanation. No one would address their tutor and upperclassman with “Yooo” to be “less formal”. You started typing a new message where you apologized for what you had done.

“I apologize for the last message I sent to you. My friend just grabbed my phone and wrote that message. I’m really sorry.”

Your thumb was about to press on “send” but you hesitated. You felt your chest tighten. You hated having to lie. It felt wrong to lie even if those were “small lies”. You always wanted to be honest to the person you were facing. 

You gripped your phone tighter. Your thumb was slowly getting closer to the enter-key. You bit on your lower lip and sent the message. Then you locked your phone and put it on your bedside table. 

You stood up and went to your desk and took out one of your school books and the matching exercise books. You needed something to distract you. 

\---------

You’ve been trying to read the same text for about ten minutes and none of the words actually stayed in your head. You wanted to know whether he replied or not and what the message contained but at the same time a part of you refused to look on your phone.

You got up from your chair and sat down on your bed again. You glanced at your cell phone while fiddling with your fingers. You knew what kind of personality Sugawara had and thus what he would reply with but you were still afraid of his response.

You took a deep breath and mentally told yourself that everything was fine. Then you exhaled the air again and grabbed your phone and unlocked it. You swiped down the top bar for notifications. There was one new message from Sugawara. You felt your chest tighten. 

“It’s alright, there’s no need to apologize.”

The feeling of relief filled your heart as you read the message. Those were only simple nine words but you could visualize how Sugawara would smile at you and say this phrase with his soothing voice. After he finished saying it, a small laughter would escape from his lips and you’d see a happy and soft expression on his face. You smiled at that thought. You quickly typed a reply.

“Thank you, Sugawara-san. I hope you have a good day.”

You sighed out of relief. You felt calm now and could probably concentrate on doing some school work. You looked at your phone once again. You were about to lock you screen but then you noticed that Sugawara started typing and a few seconds later you received two messages.

“No need to thank me and the same to you.”  
“And I wouldn’t mind it if you called me Suga like your friend did.”

You scratched the back of your head. You didn’t expect the second message from him. You thought about your answer as you re-read the message. 

“But if I did so, I wouldn’t feel like I’m given you the respect you deserve as my tutor and upperclassman. And it wouldn’t feel like we’re tutor and student anymore if I called you by your nickname.”

There was a small pause before Sugawara started typing again. Then you received a new message from Sugawara. Your eyes widened in disbelief as you read the message over and over again.

“To be honest… I don’t want to keep this tutor-student relationship. I want to close the distance between us. I want to be more than a simple tutor or upperclassman to you.”

Did he actually type this or was it auto-correct? And if he did type this: did he mean it in a platonic or romantic way? How were you going to respond to this message? First of all, you wanted to wait for him to explain himself.

After ten minutes of waiting, you were sure that it wasn’t auto-correct and that he was waiting for an answer. The messaging app showed that he was still online. You gulped down. You wouldn’t mind it if you were on good terms like friends but you weren’t sure about being lovers.

You glanced at your phone again. He was still online. Your hands started getting sweaty. It was rude to let him wait. But you weren’t sure how you were supposed to reply to that message. You started typing a response but ended up deleting it again. At the exact moment, you received messages from Sugawara which were confusing you.

“Sorry, did I make you uncomfortable ansoidn”  
“OH GOD”  
“WE’RE GOING T GET MURDERD”  
“PLS TELL OUR FAMILY THST WE LOVE THM”

Your eyebrows furrowed. What exactly was going on? You waited for a few minutes for another message but you didn’t receive any. This was getting weird. You started typing again, asking for an explanation. Before you could even finish writing, Sugawara was calling you. 

You hesitatingly picked up the call and held the phone close to your ear. You started opening your mouth to say “hello” but then got startled, almost dropping your phone when you heard a person with a deep voice shout: “YOU DON’T TAKE PEOPLE’S PHONES WITHOUT PERMISSION AND MESS WITH IT!!”

Your heart skipped a beat. You didn’t expect to hear someone shout at the beginning of the call. Now you were afraid of speaking up to tell him that you just picked up the phone because you feared that he’d shout at you if you said anything. 

But he must have noticed because he called your name in a quieter voice. “[Last name]-san? I apologize for those idiots who sent you these messages a few minutes ago. It wasn’t Suga who sent them to you, so please just forgot about them.”

“We’re sorry, [last name]-san! We regret this decision we’ve made!” you heard two familiar voices shouting. Were those Tanaka and Nishinoya, apologizing in the background?

“If you regret it then why did you even pull this prank in the first place??” the male shouted again. This time it was less noisy. He probably held his hand on top of the microphone which you were grateful for.

You decided to interfere and tell them that it was fine. “I was only confused and I wasn’t sure how to respond to these messages. Please tell Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san that they don’t need to worry about it and that they should just avoid doing it a second time.”

There was a short pause before the male told the troublemakers what you just had told him. The last sentence was misleading which you didn’t intend to do. It could be seen as either telling them to stop nicely or threatening them.

As soon as you heard him finish his sentence, you added: “And thank you for calling me and telling me that those two were behind this, uhm…”

“It’s Sawamura. Sawamura Daichi,” he replied in a soft tone. You could tell that he was a kind-hearted and good person even though you’ve known him for only a few minutes. But in these few minutes, you could also tell that he could also be really scary if you tried to provoke him.

You thanked him again and introduced yourself. You heard him, starting a new sentence but he was interrupted by another person. “Daichi? Why were you just shouting a minute ago? And- Is… is that my phone you’re using?”

You heard Sawamura’s voice which was lightly panicking. “Suga, you see, I just called [last name]-san to-“

“You actually weren’t joking when you said that you’d call [last-name]-san to tell-“

“You’ve got it wrong, Suga! Back then, I **was** kidding!” Sawamura protested, interrupting Sugawara.

“Sawamura-san, you can just hand the phone to Sugawara-san and I’ll explain it to him quickly. You helped me out, so I’m returning the favor,” you said, interfering in between them. Sawamura sighed and thanked you. 

There was a small pause before you heard Sugawara’s voice, calling your name. Your heart skipped a beat again. It’s been a week since you’ve heard his soothing voice. You were embarrassed by the fact that your heart started racing when your tutor started talking. You shoved your thoughts away and explained the whole situation in two sentences. 

“Okay, thank you, [last name]-san. I hope they didn’t give you any troubles,” Sugawara answered and sighed. His voice sounded muffled as he apologized to his friend for accusing him of telling you something you didn’t know about.

After he finished talking, you mumbled in response to his previous sentences: “You shouldn’t read the chat then.”

“Oh, is that so, Nishinoya and Tanaka?” he replied and emphasized their names.

“W-we apologize for what we’ve done and we won’t repeat it again!” you heard them, shouting in the background.

You smiled. “I was kidding. My friend pulled these kinds of pranks a lot, so I’m used to it. Although, they’ve stopped by now.”

“I see…” Sugawara muttered. There was a moment’s silence before he continued speaking. “Sorry for having disturbed you. And by the way, before I end up forgetting again, I’m coming over next Sunday.”

“Ah, thank you for letting me know. I just remembered that this was the reason why I wanted to contact you in the first place. But in the end, I forgot about it after I got confused by them- Sorry, I’m just rambling on,” you interrupted yourself and embarrassedly scratched your cheek. “I think I’m going to hang up now…”

Sugawara chuckled in response. “It’s fine. Goodbye, [last name]-san. Have a nice day.”

“Have a nice day too.”

“Well, I doubt I’m going to have a nice day with these guys around,” he replied jokingly. Before he hanged up first, you could hear Nishinoya’s loud voice in the background, saying: “Suga-san, what’s that supposed to mean??”

You locked the screen of your cell phone and put it down on the small table. Then you plopped down your bed and smiled. You felt your chest filling with happiness. You felt blessed to have met them. 

What were you going to do now? Studying was an option but you felt like you were forgetting about something else. It took you a few minutes to remember again what you had intended to do the past week but couldn’t for the reason that you had too many homework assignments. You wanted to bake pastries for Nishinoya, Tanaka and Hinata.

You got up again and noticed the screen of your phone was turned on. Someone was calling you. You picked up your phone. It was your friend. It was rather unusual for them to call you unless they wanted to complain about you that you weren’t replying.

You answered the phone and the first noise you could hear was your friend, sobbing. Your chest tightened. What in the world happened? You asked them worriedly: “[Friend’s name], what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” 

Your friend tried to talk but their voice broke and they started crying their heart out. It broke your heart. You didn’t want them to be sad. You tried to comfort them by saying you were listening to them and that you were with them. It took them a few minutes until they had calmed down to be able to talk.

“My… my Mom… She was outside, shopping… and then she called me to help her carry the groceries, so I went outside. There was a crowd gathered at the street which I had to cross to get to the store. I saw blood and, and…” their voice was shaking. “It was my Mom, she got hit by a car! I-I don’t want her to die!”

Your friend started crying again. You felt pain. You felt a needle stinging your heart and your stomach twisting. At the same time you felt a headache growing stronger. You squinched your eyes shut and your friend, smiling at you and sitting beside you on a bed with pure white sheets. In the next moment, you watched them from a window, leaving the building and crying. 

You suddenly felt cold and dropped your phone. You began to shiver at your whole body as tears were slowly pouring down your face. What was that? Why were they crying? Why were you watching them from afar? And why did this scene appear in your head? Could this have been a memory? But you didn’t remember this happening. 

“… [First name]? [First name], are you still there?” you heard your friend, calling you weakly from your phone. You took deep breaths to calm down and quickly wiped your tears away. You had to push these feelings and thoughts away. Your friend was crying and you had to be at their side right now. 

You shakily picked up your phone and cleared your throat before you started talking. You had to make sure that your voice sounded like usual. “Yes, I am still here… Where are you right now?”

“I’m in front of the emergency room and I-I don’t know what to do anymore…”

“Hold on, in which hospital are you right now?”

“I can’t remember the name… But it’s the one which is close to our middle school,” your friend sniffed. Your hands were still trembling as you unplugged the recharger from the socket and your cell phone. You put your friend on speaker as you prepared yourself to get ready to go to the hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-
> 
> I'm really, really sorry that it took me so long to update! But I did NOT drop this! I'm going to try to publish a chapter each month. Or every two months. 
> 
> Buut finally the story is progressing! I'm going to reveal many things about the reader and Suga, so look forward to them! And I swear that it's going to be plausible, I did some research for this fanfic and those won't be "blurry memories".


End file.
